Plan a Home CCTV System Before You Buy

Most CCTV installs I'm called to repair have one thing in common: the kit was bought first, the planning came later. The result is blind spots, ugly cable runs and cameras that record useful footage of the sky.

Step 1: walk your property like a burglar

Before opening any boxes, stand at each likely entry point — the front gate, side passage, back garden, French doors. Ask: "if I were sneaking in, where would I come from, and where do I want a camera looking?" Mark these spots. These become your camera positions.

Step 2: pick camera positions, not camera counts

• Front door / driveway: 1 camera covering the path and door. Mount 2.5-3m up, angled down 15-20°.
• Side passage: a narrow corridor camera — bullet style, looking lengthways.
• Back garden: typically 1-2 cameras at the corners of the rear of the house, covering the lawn and back fence.
• Garage / outbuilding: if it's separate, treat it as a second site — either its own camera or a dome that watches the route to it.

Step 3: pick the system type

• Wi-Fi cameras (Reolink, eufy, Arlo Pro): easy install, no DVR/NVR. Trade-off: each camera competes for Wi-Fi bandwidth. Fine for 2-3 cameras.
• PoE NVR system (Hikvision, Reolink, Dahua): ethernet cable from each camera to a central NVR. More reliable, higher resolution, local storage. Best for 4+ cameras.
• Hybrid (NVR + Wi-Fi cameras): useful for outbuildings or garages where running cable is impossible.

Step 4: storage and retention

Decide before you buy: how many days of footage do you want? A typical 4-camera NVR with a 2TB drive records around 14-21 days of continuous footage at 4MP. If you only record on motion, that doubles. Cloud subscriptions add monthly cost — useful as a backup but I always recommend local storage as primary.

Step 5: cable routes (this is where most installs go wrong)

Plan every cable run on paper before drilling. Cat6 ethernet is the workhorse cable — it carries both power and video to a PoE camera in one run. Routes to consider: under eaves, through soffits, along loft spaces, dropping down internal walls to the NVR cupboard. Never run cables across roof tiles or stretched between buildings.

Step 6: night vision & lighting

IR night vision works well for 10-20m. Beyond that you need either active IR floodlights or a "colour night vision" camera (which uses a low-light sensor + a small white LED). Don't rely on a streetlamp — if a neighbour blocks it, your camera goes dark.

Common planning mistakes

• Cameras mounted too high — you get a great view of hairlines, not faces.
• Pointed at the sun — faces become silhouettes from 10am to 4pm.
• No "approach shot" — cameras only catch people once they're already at the door.
• NVR placed in the loft with no ventilation — hard drives fail in summer.

What I do for clients

I offer planning visits separately from installs. I'll walk your property, mark camera positions, draft cable routes and recommend a kit list — before you spend a penny on cameras. That way you buy once, install once, and don't end up moving cables six months later.